Rybakina beats Sabalenka to win Indian Wells
Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina edged Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (13/11), 6-4 on Sunday to win the Indian Wells WTA title and avenge her loss to the Belarusian in the Australian Open final.
Kazakhstan's Rybakina, the world number 10 who ousted top-ranked defending champion Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals, followed up with her first victory over second-ranked Sabalenka in five career meetings.
Rybakina, projected to rise to seventh in the world, handed Sabalenka just her second defeat of the year, denying her a third title to go with a win in Adelaide that presaged her first Grand Slam triumph at Melbourne.
"It's actually the first time it goes my way," Rybakina said as she accepted the trophy, a smiling Sabalenka leaning to the microphone to interject, "I will make sure it was the last one."
"We'll see next time," Rybakina laughed.
The banter belied another tense battle between the two, who had gone to three sets in all four prior encounters.
Sabalenka had the edge from the baseline, but, in the face of fierce pressure from Rybakina, the serve demons that beset the Belarusian last year resurfaced and her 10 double faults in the opening frame ultimately proved too much to overcome.
After fending off three break points in a marathon fourth game, she broke Rybakina to gain the first advantage.
But Sabalenka handed back the break with a double fault as Rybakina leveled the set at 4-4.
She gifted Rybakina a set point with another double fault in the 12th game and while the Kazakhstan player couldn't capitalize, she would do so finally in the tiebreaker.
Sabalenka herself let two set points go begging on her own serve in the 17-minute tiebreaker before her 10th double fault of the set gave Rybakina her sixth set point and she took it.
Sabalenka, struggling to quell her emotions, was broken to love to open the second set and that was all the opening Rybakina needed.
"It was a rollercoaster," Rybakina said. "With all these double faults, I think we were both so tight, because we both knew that it's not easy with our serves to hold it but also to try to break.
"It's been just a rollercoaster and I'm happy that the first set went my way so the second was a bit easier."
An early break was even more important as the blustery wind picked up in the second set.
The Moscow-born Kazakh saved a pair of break points to push her lead to 3-1 and, with Sabalenka in survival mode, she ripped a backhand return up the line for a break that put her ahead 5-2.
Sabalenka wouldn't go quietly, breaking Rybakina to love and holding serve with ease with the wind at her back.
But Rybakina polished it off with confidence on her first match point when Sabalenka smacked a service return into the net.
"I think I was super disappointed with myself after the first set, especially coming back, and then she had a set point, then you kind of hold it," said Sabalenka, who was kicking herself for going for bigger serves than she needed on her set points.
"There is no pressure on me, why would I go for bigger serves? Just serve to the body and just play the point," she said. "I was over-hitting."
She admitted that her failure to convert set points on her own serve was discouraging and affected her early in the second set.
"Seems like in the first two games I wasn't there," she said. "I was just all over the place and I was just trying to bring myself back on court and keep fighting. It didn't work well today."
Rybakina has now won her past four matches against top-two opponents. She beat then No. 2 Ons Jabeur at Wimbledon and has beaten Swiatek twice this year -- including a stunning fourth-round upset at the Australian Open.
She's the first Indian Wells WTA champion to beat both the No. 1 and No. 2 players on the way to the title.
(责任编辑:产品中心)
- Webb telescope just snapped image of huge black hole gobbling material
- Defective inverter module blamed for towing of 214
- 如何认捐一棵古树?视频版绿美广东古树认捐项目指引来了!
- Donald Trump Jr. delivered a stunning self
- Game Plan
- Ruling bloc seeks tougher sentences for deepfake sex crimes
- Nadal surges into Barcelona semis
- 广垦畜牧王文洲:用4.5万次种猪测定炼成的实践派育种专家
- Twitter's cleanup efforts resulted in its biggest drop ever in monthly users
- Bernie Sanders’ DNC speech sounded like everyone else’s. That’s astonishing.
- Uber's new Ride Pass lets you pay a monthly fee for discounted rides
- iOS 12.1 extends controversial processor throttling feature to the iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and X
- Uber's new Ride Pass lets you pay a monthly fee for discounted rides
-
Families of S. Korean detainees in NK appeal to embassies for support
Lee Shin-wha, former ambassador for international cooperation on North Korean human rights (center), ...[详细] -
US wants to 'continue denuke talks' with North Korea
A woman displays a banner with a photo of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President ...[详细] -
Hands on with Apple's 2018 MacBook Air
Apple's MacBook line has clarity again.The MacBook Air, formerly the neglected stepchild among Apple ...[详细] -
N. Korea may resort to unofficial markets amid virus
A picture of the Friendship Bridge linking North Korea and China (Yonhap)North Korea's fiscal status ...[详细] -
Wordle today: The answer and hints for August 29
Can't get enough of Wordle? Try Mashable's free version nowOh hey there! If you're here, it must be ...[详细] -
'I would be disappointed if Pyongyang is rebuilding missile site': Trump
U.S. President Donald Trump participates in an American Workforce Policy Advisory Board meeting in t ...[详细] -
Oh, baby!The new 11- and 12.9-inch iPad Pros are really nice.The last time I was this excited about ...[详细]
-
South Koreans head to joint liaison office after North's pullout
Vehicles carrying South Korean officials of the inter-Korean liaison office in North Korea head to G ...[详细] -
Elon Musk's AI facility is reportedly operating gas turbines without a permit
Elon Musk's AI company has caught the attention of environmentalists in Memphis, Tennessee for repor ...[详细] -
Oh, baby!The new 11- and 12.9-inch iPad Pros are really nice.The last time I was this excited about ...[详细]
- If aliens harnessed solar power, could we detect them? NASA investigated.
- San Francisco Google employees walk out in protest of sexual harassment
- 'Hopefully it doesn't happen'
- 'Maleficent: Mistress of Evil' doesn't have enough Maleficent: Review
- How 3D Game Rendering Works: Texturing
- 雅电集团调控技术人员驰援九寨地震灾区
- 援疆医生钟子劭:中医呵护病患健康,真情播撒南疆大地